Rock climbers will be welcome on select parts of the picturesque Helderberg Escarpment under a new master plan for John Boyd Thacher State Park, making it the second park in New York to green-light climbing.

The final plan, released Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, also calls for bids to build a "high ropes adventure course" in the park to be operated by an outside concessionaire.

Also under the proposal, a long-delayed plan to refurbish the shuttered pool would be scrapped in favor of upgrades to the Meadow that include an obstacle course overseen by trained park staff with features such as a swinging balance beam, rope bridges and tire swings.

Less intensive improvements would include an extension of the popular Indian Ladder trail north to Tory Cave and the development of a trail that would provide views of the opening of Hailes Cave.

But the main attraction is likely to be the endorsement — at least in principle — of climbing on the currently off-limits majestic Helderberg cliffs, as high as 700 feet in some places, that have enticed local climbers for years.

Climbing is sanctioned in one other state park, Minnewaska State Park in Ulster County on the Shawangunk rock formation.

Details of exactly where climbing might be permitted inside Thacher, and whether to allow ice climbing, won't be available until a supplemental Climbing Management Plan is completed, which will take into account accessibility, rock stability and the impact on endangered species.

A timeline for how long that process might take was not immediately available.

"There have been a lot of people that have clamored to have us look at this," Simons said, adding that, like the proposed ropes course, climbing would likely be supervised by an outside group under an arrangement with the state.

"We have ideas of places where this would be possible," he said, and there are "still a lot of things that need to be determined."

The push by local climbing enthusiasts to open the park's cliffs was highlighted by the Sept. 13 death of a Rensselaer man who died while climbing there illegally.

The master plan, which is intended to cover the next 10 to 15 years at the park, also calls for the creation of a nearly five-mile bike path connecting Thacher to Thompson's Lake State Park.

"We believe the plan will benefit the people of the Capital Region for many years to come," John Kilroy, president of Friends of Thacher Park, said in a statement. "John Boyd Thacher State Park is the crown jewel of the area and the plan ensures that it will continue to shine."

At 2,157 acres, Thacher provides sweeping views of Albany about 17 miles to the east. The park was established in 1914 with a land grant from Emma Treadwell Thacher, the widow of the Albany mayor and the park's namesake.